Thursday, September 18, 2008

Chrysler LLC, State of Michigan and UAW Announce Industry-First Special Program For Eligible Chrysler Employees

Joint partnership to offer financial support, job training and placement assistance for UAW-represented workers in Michigan who take early retirement and voluntary separation offers from Chrysler - Collaboration between Michigan's 'No Worker Left Behind' and 'Michigan Works!' initiatives, Chrysler and the UAW becomes first-of-its-kind for Michigan workers


AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Sept. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Chrysler LLC, in partnership
with the State of Michigan and the UAW announced today a first-of-its-kind
special programs opportunity for eligible UAW-represented Chrysler employees
in the State of Michigan. The joint partnership offers Chrysler employees
financial support, job training and placement assistance, in order to ensure
that "life after Chrysler" leads to a bright future for Michigan families and
the economy of the State.


Chrysler LLC will be offering three programs -- Incentive Program for
Retirement (IPR), Special Early Retirement (SER) and Enhanced Voluntary
Termination of Employment (EVTEP). In Michigan, approximately 13,800 employees
are eligible for the three programs, which represents nearly all hourly
employees in the state.


"This win-win-win partnership will help employees who are separating from
Chrysler land on their feet," said Al Iacobelli, Chrysler Vice President --
Employees Relations. "We appreciate the years of dedication and work that the
men and women of Chrysler have put into their careers with our organization.
We now provide them a chance to reinvest in and reinvent their next career."


These socially responsible programs will be offered above and beyond
Chrysler's lump-sum payouts and extended healthcare benefits.


"Providing workers with the training they need is a critical part of our
plan to strengthen and diversify Michigan's economy," Governor Jennifer M.
Granholm said. "This collaboration between Chrysler, the United Auto Workers,
and the State of Michigan is exactly the kind of partnership we need to better
position Michigan to thrive in 21st century economy."


"The UAW is committed to assisting our members successfully transition to
other good paying jobs once they leave Chrysler,
" said UAW Vice President
General Holiefield, who directs the union's Chrysler Department. "We know that
UAW members, with their total dedication to quality and productivity, can make
valuable contributions in a wide range of fields. We believe these programs
will help our members apply their skills in new areas."



Today's announced partnership has three components: Training, Tuition and
Placement.



Training


The primary focus of the State of Michigan's "No Worker Left Behind"
program to pursue certificates of value, associate's degrees or technical
training,
which leads to a job in a high-demand occupation. The State of
Michigan will work with Chrysler participants to provide:


-- Skill and aptitude assessments;
-- Career counseling;
-- Crisis intervention and life skills counseling;
-- Up to two years of training; and,
-- Support services, such as mentoring and coaching.




"With the help of 'Michigan Works!' agencies and the No Worker Left Behind
initiative, every UAW employee separating from Chrysler under retirement,
early retirement and voluntary separation will have the opportunity to receive
targeted education, training, and support services to prepare for high demand
and emerging industry careers,
" Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth
(DLEG) Director Keith W. Cooley said. "This win-win-win partnership
demonstrates our commitment to retain these workers and help them succeed in
making a new life."



Tuition


Chrysler has established a special tuition assistance program to provide
tuition assistance of up to $5,000 per year for two years, for a total of
$10,000 per person. Tuition includes instructional costs, books, materials,
fees (i.e. application costs, registration, lab fees) and academic support
services.




Placement


Job placement assistance will be provided through Michigan Works! Office
locations to help participants take advantage of newly acquired education and
training by working directly with training providers and employers. Michigan
Works! has more than 100 facilities across the state. "Matching the skills of
our workforce with the needs of our employers is what No Worker Left Behind is
all about," DLEG Deputy Director Andy Levin said. "We must begin with the
recognition that none of us can do it alone. We must all work together --
citizens, businesses, government, and educational institutions -- to build a
Michigan workforce with the skills and training to meet the needs of
Michigan's existing and emerging economy."


Chrysler LLC will also be providing special relocation and mortgage
services for those that are looking to take advantage of refinancing their
home or moving to another location.



About No Worker Left Behind


On August 1, 2007, Granholm announced the No Worker Left Behind
initiative: an ambitious plan to train 100,000 citizens in three years for
jobs in high demand occupations, emerging industries, and entrepreneurial
endeavors. No Worker Left Behind gives Michigan workers the opportunity to
acquire the skills they need to win good paying jobs in today's global
economy. No Worker Left Behind provides up to two years of free tuition at any
Michigan community college, university, or other approved training program for
qualifying participants. www.michigan.gov/dleg




About Chrysler LLC


Chrysler LLC, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Mich., produces Chrysler,
Jeep(R), Dodge and Mopar(R) brand vehicles and products. Total sales worldwide
in 2007 were 2.7 million vehicles. Sales outside of North America were the
highest ever with an increase of 15 percent over 2006. Its product lineup
features some of the world's most recognizable vehicles, including the
Chrysler 300 and Town & Country, Jeep Wrangler and Grand Cherokee and Dodge
Challenger and Ram. The Chrysler Foundation, the company's philanthropic arm,
annually supports hundreds of charitable organizations in the United States
and throughout the world. In 2007, the Foundation gave approximately $21
million in charitable donations.




SOURCE  Chrysler LLC


Fwd: Geneva Financial Trading Group

Scam Alert

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Eric Lewis <lewis.gftg@gmail.com>
Date: 2008/9/18
Subject: Geneva Financial Trading Group
To: Karen Lehrke <klehrke@gmail.com>


Greetings,

Your resume has been found at www.careerbuilder.com . Please let me
introduce our company and descibe the position.

Our company specializes on purchase and resale of products in such
spheres of industry as: Electronics, Chemical Products, Expensive
Construction Materials and Manufactured Goods. The market of our
activity includes the distributed networks consisting of the
international auctions as on the Internet and locally. Through our
networks we constantly receive new orders both for purchase and for
sale. At present we require Financial Agent Representatives of our
company in the countries where we conduct our business through our
networks.

Agent's work consists of receiving company's financial assets to the
agent's account and forwarding of funds according to our instructions.
It will be receiving payments for the items from our customers and
forwarding such payments to our representatives or to the seller
directly.

We have 2 reasons that made us start the hiring program of the
Financial Agent Representatives:

1. Due to elite position of services given by the Swiss banks and a
great demand for these services in the field of storage of financial
assets, Switzerland has very exacting and inconvenient rules and high
commission fees for bank transfer services. It is highly appreciated
for the purposes of safety of financial assets but it is very
inconvenient for conducting trading business.

Our Legal colleagues International Financial and Law Consulting House:
PriceWaterHouseCoopers suggested us to use as a variant of tax and
financial planning the following scheme: the Agency agreements with
representatives in the countries of business dealing for cooperation
on the basis of the commission rate.

2. As said above, our activity includes constant financial streams in
connection with conducting the international business transactions so
the second reason of starting our hiring program is the expediency of
acceptance of payments for our services to the bank accounts of our
Agents in the country of the buyer, then as a rule funds should be
forwarded to our other partners as payment for the services or in
order to purchase the necessary items. The given program helps us to
operate quickly with streams of funds and to send them in a direction
necessary for us avoiding HIGH COMMISSION FEES and LONG TIME TRANSFER
EXPENSES of the SWISS BANKS.

Also agent's assistance is required because if we had used
international bank transfer it could take more than 3-5 days, but if
the payment is sent to an account within the same country it takes no
more than a single business day.

Such scheme allows us to accelerate the whole payment process also
giving us an opportunity to ship the items to the customers faster
than any other competitive companies because speed and customers'
satisfaction are vital for our business.

Agent receives 5%% from the amount that has been successfully forwarded
to the receiver. The 5%% commission can be retrieved immediately after
the amount has been received by agent. Usually there are 2-3 payments
being sent during a week.

Cooperation in such form does not mean constant and regular
transactions through your bank account. The given action is directed
to find and check an executive, fair and responsible person for
further cooperation with our company. First of all we suggest a trial
period to become acquainted with us and the given kind of business.
The given scheme of cooperation is simple enough, and we are ready to
pay well for this work.

First month your income will be about $3,000, then it will be
increasing for about $500 each month up to $8,000 per month. There is
a trial period of time for you in our company (first 2 years). After
that you'll be offered a new position of Project Manager (salary
from $2,5k/week).

You do not need any special education or experience to be hired. But
please notice that only honest, responsible and punctual people are
required for this work. You will have to forward the funds you will
receive within 12 hours since the moment the funds are available for
withdrawing. Payment inquires and notifications will be sent before
each payment is sent and the payment is always sent only after agent's
readiness confirmation. If payment is delayed for more than 12
business hours the agent's commission will be cancelled and the funds
should be sent without any revenue for agent. If the payment is
delayed for more than 24 business hours the contract with agent will
be terminated also and if the payment is not sent within 48 business
hours police and authorities will be involved.

All the information provided to us will be used for our cooperation
only and will not be ever disclosed to 3rd parties or companies with
the exception of your account number (it will be sent to our customers
for issuing payments to it). You can either open new account or use an
existing one for receiving the payments.

If you are interested and wish to test your abilities in this
occupation feel free to send us an email to lewis.gftg@gmail.com and
we will send you the Application Form after that. Just fill the form
and send back to us. Don't be surprised to receive positive reply to
your application from us because we decline only those who have
unsettled debts or criminal records.

If you have any additional questions just drop an email to
lewis.gftg@gmail.com . Thanks for reading our proposal. We hope that
you are interested and we are looking forward hearing back from you.


Sincerely,
Eric Lewis
Geneva Financial Trading Group
E-mail: lewis.gftg@gmail.com

Monday, September 15, 2008

EU wants to add another notch to ITA belt

Published Monday 15th September 2008 12:08 GMT

The European Union will today call on members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to consider its proposal to update and expand the Information Technology Agreement (ITA) which governs tech-related trade.

The European Commission - the executive arm of the EU - wants a prompt response to its plans to update the ITA, which was negotiated and inked in 1996. It was conceived to expedite trade in IT and telecommunication products by eliminating tariffs on an agreed range of products.

The EU has put forward its proposal (http://ec.europa.eu/trade/issues/newround/pr150908_en.htm) to expand the list of such equipment exempt from customs duties, and is meanwhile locked in a trade dispute with some ITA members. The Commission faces a complaint from the US, Japan and Taiwan over tariffs on some imported IT goods.

EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said: "The ITA remains a milestone duty-free agreement. But it risks being left behind after 12 years of technological development. We need an ITA for the 21st century that will continue to benefit our customers and businesses."

The Commission also hit out at its critics, who were failing to agree that "a change in ITA criteria can only be made on the basis of consensus amongst all ITA participants … and not as a result of litigation by some members". It's probably also hoping that a swift resolution will pre-empt any costly legal action from the three countries.

In May this year US and Japan officials lodged their complaint against the EU with the WTO, claiming that the 27-member state bloc was undermining the ITA by hiking duties on some TV set-top boxes, flat screens and printers able to scan, fax and copy.

Those are items that in the past decade have moved from being classified as IT kit into common consumer goods. The EU had argued that tariffs could be raised on those products because they are no longer purely for businesses.

IT products now account for over $1.5 trillion of exports worldwide, which is one fifth of total world exports of manufactured products, up from $600bn in 1996. ®  ( Perhaps during their discussions they could also provide provisions for workers left behind due to IT being sent offshore.   There were provisions made in the NAFTA agreement for the workers whose jobs were eliminated, so should ITA for those positions that will never be on our shores again.)

Fwd: FW: Send Resume for "Sr. Business Analyst" Contract position at Detroit,MI for 12+months.

Scam Alert.

Not only do they want your resume' but any personal information that you are willing to provide.  Visa... Social Security...etc.

---------- Forwarded message ----------



Shaunese
Be True to Yourself

"Being true to self often means drowning out other voices that would ask us to live their dreams instead of ours"



From: suren@compusoft-is.com
To: shaunese_cable@hotmail.com
Subject: Send Resume for "Sr. Business Analyst" Contract position at Detroit,MI for 12+months.
Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:34:16 -0400

 
 
Hi,
 
Please send me the mandatory details,
First Name:
Last Name:
Visa:
Contact #:
Email id:
Current Location (Place & State) :
Availability Date:
SSN (Last 4-Digits)#:
Best Rate:
Two Professional References:  
 
How many years of experience do you have with?
EXCEL                                                             Required   --  36    Not Preferred
SOFTWARE QUALITY ASSURANCE                         Required   --  60    Not Preferred
SOFTWARE QUALITY METRICS                           Required   --  60    Not Preferred
 SOFTWARE QUALITY STANDARDS                         Required   --  60    Not Preferred
VISIO                                                               Required   --  36    Not Preferred
Software Development Methodology w/Agile           Required   --  60    Not Preferred
Financial                                                      Desired   --  60    Not Preferred
PCI Compliance                                            Required   --  48    Not Preferred
Credit Card Industry                                      Required   --  60    Not Preferred
Research and analysis                                  Required   --  120    Not Preferred
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 13. Job Description:
Must have ten years of experience as a Business Analyst. Will work on a major project in Credit and Collections. Must have strong background in a financial environment and experience within the credit card industry. Must have specific knowledge of PCI Compliance. Solid experience with complete SDLC and well developed facilitation skills are imperative.  
14. Checked values that should apply to this candidate : Experience with Fortune 500 Company:Yes
Less than 4 Jobs in Past 2 Years:Yes
Local Resident:Yes
Experience with Team Size 6 Members+:Yes
Communications Skills 9 or 10:Yes
3+ Years Experience in U.S.:Yes
Complete SDLC on at Least 3 Positions:Yes


Thanks&Regards,
 
Suren
CompuSoft Integrated Solutions, Inc.
Ph: 248-232-3455
Fax: 248-538-8435
E-mail: suren@compusoft-is.com; suren_1049@yahoo.co.in;
URL: www.compusoft-is.com


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Thursday, September 11, 2008

Could TAA be an option for all of IT?

GM workers qualify for TAA benefits

More than 400 workers at the General Motors assembly plant in Shreveport will receive aid from the Trade Adjustment Assistance Program. Nearly 800 employees of the GM plant will be without jobs Sept. 29, when the plant will eliminate its second shift. The plant produces the GMC Canyon, Chevrolet Colorado, Hummer H3 and H3T.

The TAA program was created in 1974 to assist people who lose jobs or face a reduction in hours or wages, due to increased imports. Louisiana has received more than $10 million in TAA funds since 2003, according to a news release from U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu.

Workers can access the TAA benefits by going to their local one-stop career center. The easiest way for workers to locate the facility is to visit www.servicelocator.org and entering their zip code.

There are two career centers listed in Shreveport and Bossier City:

n Caddo Career Solutions Center, 2900 Dowdell St., Shreveport, LA 71103, (318) 676-5655 or (318) 676-7746

n Bossier Business and Career Solutions Center, 4000 Viking Drive, Bossier City, LA 71111, (318) 741-7363

TAA benefits include job training, allowances for readjustment, relocation and job search, health coverage tax credits and a wage subsidy.

— From Staff Reports

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Can you compete in the global market place?

Five outsourcing websites: You too can telecommute.

Outsourcing often gets a bad rap, but if your business needs to build a new website or have a brochure designed, for instance, and lacks the expertise in-house, outsourcing your project at home or abroad is often the most viable and cost-effective solution.

So where can you find qualified contractors to complete your projects? Thanks to the internet, it's never been easier to not only locate talented contractors but to get them competing for your business.

Here are five websites that help businesses find contracts to outsource their projects to.

  • ELance
    One of the original outsourcing websites, I've hired a number of web developers and graphic designers using eLance. ELance allows you to post your project, receive bids from contractors, offers a system for managing projects and also provides a payments service with an escrow option.

     
  • ScriptLance
    With a focus on web-oriented projects, I've observed that ScriptLance tends to be a hub for lower dollar value "gigs."

     
  • oDesk
    When outsourcing on an hourly rate payment schedule, there is always concern that a contractor won't put in the time her or she is supposed to put in. oDesk takes a novel approach and keeps track of the time contractors are putting in. It can even take screenshots every 10 minutes so that you can see what your contractors are doing.

     
  • Guru
    Guru bills itself as "the world's largest online service marketplace" and works in a fashion similar to ELance.

     
  • RentACoder
    Like ScriptLance, RentACoder is primarily oriented to web projects, as its name implies. It claims over 220,000 "registered coders."


Having successfully used some of the services above, here are a few tips:

  • Spec out your requests in as great a detail as possible. Even if you're not capable of describing what you need in technical terms, take the time to explain what you need in depth. If you don't, expect delays, additional costs and poor results.

     
  • Set sensible milestones. Quite honestly, outsourcing can be crapshoot - especially when working with a new contractor. You have to be prepared for complications. Thus, give thought to milestones so that you can get a project back on track (or cancel it) early if it goes astray.

  • Communication is key. If you have a hard time communicating with a contractor during the sales phase, you're probably going to have a hard time communicating with them during the project phase.

     
  • Look local. Certain types of projects are almost always best completed locally. If you have a complex or long-term project, give some real thought to selecting a local contractor that you can meet with in person.

  • You usually get what you pay for. Even if you decide to outsource your project to a country in which contractors charge far less, be weary of quotes that seem too good to be true. They usually are.

     
  • Look closely at portfolios, read feedback, request references and ask questions. Treat the hiring of a contractor the same as you would the hiring of an employee. Do your due diligence!